Aug. 21—HONESDALE — Defending champion Gwen Powell heard the talk.
Honesdale Golf Club’s greens, with their slippery slopes and tough pin positions, can work on a player’s mind.
So when Powell went over the green on the par-5 first, then dropped a chip just onto the putting surface only to watch it roll 75 feet off the front of the two-tiered green, she was more than a little concerned.
But the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier has been through worse, and quickly pulled her game together.
She finished the front nine at even-par, and built on her six-stroke lead at the turn to win the Bob Simons Classic with a 2-over-par 74 on Monday at Honesdale Golf Club.
Powell won by nine shots over Honesdale’s Kayla Benson, with Scranton’s Alex King and Scranton Prep’s Chloe Lynch each carding 95. Mountain View’s Lily Sedlak and North Pocono’s Lyla Jones shot 96 to lead the field of 62 players, the largest for a Lackawanna League girls preseason event.
“I heard that the greens are slick and I was like, alright,” Powell said. “The first hole got me a little nervous. It got me thinking more about those chips.
“You’re looking online, it’s straightforward. It’s not the longest course, but they definitely had it set up pretty tough. The pins were definitely not in the middle of the greens on every hole. It’s pretty narrow. Trees are on every hole. You can get in trouble, but I kept it pretty straight and I was able to hit most greens.”
That helped settle any nerves from the notoriously difficult first green.
Powell split the middle with her drive and knocked her approach on the second green, quickly putting a bad memory behind her.
“That really kicked things off for me and I was going pretty steady,” Powell said “A couple of bogeys here and there but I don’t think I mishit many shots.”
Playing with Benson and Lynch, Powell knew she had a comfortable cushion at the turn, one that she added to with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 10th.
“It’s never a walk in the park,” Powell said. “I still have to stay focused. Anybody can have a good day. Anybody can have a bad day. It’s really good to know that I have the skills and I have the mindset.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time so I just feel comfortable doing this the last four years. It’s definitely a big change from freshman to this year. It’s interesting being the oldest one here, so it’s a weird feeling.”
What’s not weird is Powell hitting fairways and greens, avoiding the thick rough, and making her share of putts inside 6 feet.
“I drove it really well. Really, here, distance isn’t the biggest issue,” Powell said. “Good approach shots and putting. I didn’t always have tap-ins. I made a lot of good 3-, 4- and 5-footers.”
Unlike the majority of players, Powell was able to pick up shots around the green.
“I definitely left some shots out there,” Powell said. “I had a bunch of birdies and an eagle. Just the greens got to me on some holes. It’s definitely a difficult track if the putter’s off.”
Except for a three-putt from the high collar on No. 12, there wasn’t much not to admire, especially when she erased that bogey with a chip-in for eagle from 35 feet on No. 14.
“She’s really great,” Benson said. “I’m amazed, every time.
“The greens are in beautiful shape,” Benson said. “They played the member-member yesterday so I get it. They were so fast, I wasn’t expecting it. They’re never like this. The pins were in really hard spots. I just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.
“Everything else was good. It was a great day. We’re going to have (predistricts) here, which will be so much fun. I play here all the time and I can do better, so I know I will.”
King’s performance was her best, the senior taking third on a match of cards with Lynch, and moving up 10 spots from last year’s tournament finish.
“It feels really good because I played every single day this summer,” King said. “I’ve had a good start to my season. I won my first three matches and my better-ball points. It’s nice to come out and compete against the girls because I’m normally against the boys. So I see the competition before predistricts and districts.
“I know a lot of people struggled with putting, but I don’t think I had any three-putts. I think that really helped me.”
Powell, Jones and Ava Pabst, who was seventh overall with 97, combined for a 267 total as North Pocono won the team championship, the only squad to have all three scores under 100.
Scranton Prep finished second at 303, and host Honesdale took third at 319, one better than Abington Heights.
Sedlak grabbed low senior honors, with Lynch the low junior in the field. Jones took home the hardware for low sophomore, and Ella Mackrell claimed low freshman laurels, edging Elk Lake’s Sadie Warnero in a one-hole playoff after each shot 114.
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